


the empress from across the sea

by RoseMeister



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 05:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18613663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseMeister/pseuds/RoseMeister
Summary: It hits her like a gut punch then, that Alexandria’s closest friendship is with an Empress from across the sea. A woman almost more distant than the Void.Emily & Alexandria, and a conversation on a rooftop.





	the empress from across the sea

There’s a woman waiting, just as the letter left on her desk said there would be. Wearing dark clothes, a silk scarf covering her face, she crouches on a small ledge, watching her. Alexandria feels the tension slip away from her shoulders, albeit slightly. This one isn’t a stranger.

“Dr Hypatia.” Emily says, her voice almost warm. Much warmer than Alexandria has ever heard but well. The last time she saw Emily she had been the driving force behind a rebellion, the knife held to the throat of those who deposed her.

And even if she’d refused to kill anyone, refused to sink into bloodthirsty revenge and instead forged her own path back to the throne, she still hurt people. Stole Jindosh’s mind, had the duke committed for insanity, and likely even more Alexandria doesn’t know about. Little wonder she struggled to find warmth in those times.

“Empress.” Alexandria says.

Emily waves her hand dismissively. “Forget the titles. If I wanted to be called Empress, I would have just visited court.”

“Emily, then?” Alexandria says softly. Emily nods, and Alexandria sighs out in relief. Even if Emily isn’t the type to snap without warning, the thought of displeasing her is more than unpleasant. “I will have to insist on you forgetting titles for me too, then.”

“Alexandria. Alright.” Strange, how odd it is to hear her name spoken out loud for once. No one really does it anymore. She’s been Dr Hypatia for a while now. It’s horrible how shocking that is, to realise all at once that the few people Alexandria considered as friends have all left or died.

More causalities of the Crown Killer.

And hearing the Empress of the isles herself greet her so casually, well. That Alexandria avoids dwelling on.

“I assume you came for a reason, then?”

“And not just for nostalgia’s sake?” Emily hops down from her perch at last, dragging the scarf down from her face. And in a second, she holds herself differently, uncurls from the posture of the assassin and into that of an Empress, tall and indominable. Alexandria takes a step back from her, and something must show in her eyes, for Emily pauses, consciously shifts again, into something more casual, more natural. There’s a bitter truth there, one Alexandria is sure few people get to see. Emily is still so young, especially so in Alexandria’s eyes. Young, and privileged in ways, but scarred so deep in others. A young woman, burnt by more plots and coups than any leader should see in a lifetime.

“But yes,” Emily continues, “I did come for a reason. I wanted your help with something. There’s been a small outbreak in Dunwall. An illness afflicting the sailors. I’d hoped I could steal your expert opinion.”

Alexandria pauses. “Is that why you came? Is all this subterfuge really necessary, for something you could have asked for with a letter?”

“Necessary? No.” Emily flashes a smile, but it’s a touch too wide, bares a bit too much teeth. Not quite elegant enough for an empress. Somehow it suits her. “But it is more exciting, isn’t it?”

Alexandra’s confusion must be visible, and Emily shrugs again. The movement lifts her coat, shows just a hint at a folded sword. And yet, even knowing Emily is still stalking about on rooftops armed, Alexandria doesn’t feel scared. Some of that might be practical. If Emily had wanted Alexandria dead, wanted her removed, Alexandria wouldn’t even know before it happened.

All it really does is make her pity the young Empress, that the murky tides of fate have taken her so far from shore.

She remembers that sword though. Remembers Emily letting her inspect it, back in Alexandria’s time on the Dreadful Wale, recovering from Emily’s mercy. It’s a masterpiece, an intriguing system of folding parts. Even more so, it’s a treasure to Emily, a weapon held delicately, never taken outside her sight. Corvo’s blade once, Emily had told her, one night under the stars. A borrowed weapon, while the man himself couldn’t use it.

Seems the Lord Protector has let her keep it.

“I already had reason to visit.” Emily offers, finally. “Stilton had a few ideas he insisted on sharing. Some labour laws he thought the rest of the isles could pick up. And the Duke has been writing to me for weeks wanting to discuss increased capital support for new infrastructure. I won’t bore you with the details.” She grins again, wild and sharp. “Really, I’m mainly here because Wyman has never visited before. She’s been dragging me all over Serkonos for days.”

Today is warm, warm even for Serkonos. And standing in the sunlight for once, set against the open air, the wide sea glimmering in the distance, Emily looks her age, for once. Young, vibrant, the harsh light in her eyes softening when she speaks her lover’s name.

Alexandria has never met Wyman. Has never met most of the people Emily talks about. The Empress dances in entirely different social circles to her, travels all over the isles. But then again, Alexandria’s lover is her work, and the people who need her.

“I see.” Alexandria says, her voice still soft. “You should take her to the Royal Conservatory, while you’re here. They’ve repaired it since… Whatever happened there. You would know more about that than I, I suspect.”

“Maybe so.” Something darkens Emily’s expression for a moment, and Alexandria briefly regrets reminding her of all that had happened a year ago. But it lightens. Eventually. “Wyman has wanted to visit for years, you know.”

Alexandria does know. Emily had told her, so long ago. One too many long nights, one too many nightmares from both of them, and they had stayed up, talking. A strange fleeting friendship, one Alexandria had never thought she’d find with a woman half her age. But Emily is wiser than her position would suggest, and had matured more in those weeks of exile than most do in a decade.

It hits her like a gut punch then, that Alexandria’s closest friendship is with an Empress from across the sea. A woman almost more distant than the Void.

“I’m sure Wyman would enjoy it.” Alexandria pauses, wonders briefly, awkwardly, how most people hold conversation. “I contributed to one of the new exhibits, by the way. You’ll have to tell me what she thinks of it.”

“I will.” Emily says. Her voice drops soft too, and she pauses, just for a breath, but her eyes are sharp, analyse Alexandria, her form, her posture, her everything. “Have you been well? Are there any…”

It’s an obvious question. And one Alexandria has been dreading, ever since she found that small folded note left on her desk, the one asking her to find her way here. Even still, she has to clench her hands together in order to feel brave enough to speak, to not just try and run. And maybe it’s an irrational fear, but how can Alexandria look at Emily, the woman with the strength and skill of an entire army, whose borderline cruel mercies have taken out everyone who stood in her way back to the throne, and not feel the slightest bit afraid of the thought that Alexandria’s time has finally come.

“That creature…” Alexandria starts. She speaks slow, handles every word as carefully as she would a sharpened knife, almost more afraid of her own words than the woman watching her with such clever, sharp eyes. “The cure you made- That Vasco helped you make- has kept her quiet. I’ve been in control.”

But Emily still watches her, so Alexandria continues. “I do have dreams sometimes, admittedly. Dark things. I can’t tell if it’s my own imagination or some lingering remnant, but even they have been fading within the last few months.”

And Emily’s gaze is still focused, just as intense, even if she smiles now.

“Good.” She says, and her tone is honest, like she genuinely means it. Not relief at not having to put Alexandria down like a diseased wolfhound, but something else. Like she’s genuinely glad, for Alexandria’s sake. Maybe she is. Emily hides behind shadow and golden masks. Maybe the woman beneath all that is truly kind. Maybe the woman Alexandria thought she knew, in those days she spent on the Dreadful Wale, is the real her. Stranger things have happened.

Emily jumps back on the ledge from before, stretches her arms, like an athlete before a race. “I’ll send you all the details in a letter.” She says. “Outsider knows I don’t remember half of them.”

And she has almost reached out, her right hand tracing old brickwork, seconds from pulling herself up and out of sight, when she hesitates, drops her hand.

“Alex?” She says. For the first time in this whole conversation she looks out of place, uncertain. “It was good to see you.”

“You as well.” Alexandria is not an exceptionally verbose woman, not someone who loves the sound of their own voice, like Jindosh did. Even still, she thinks there must be something she should say, some way to clear the air. But she struggles to find it, hates what thin awkward words her mind supplies. “After this, will you keep in touch?”

Emily looks at her strangely, and she stumbles for words once more. “Not just for business, I mean.”

“Oh.” Emily says. But she smiles again, broad and sharp. “Of course. But I will warn you, you may just get a letter or two from Wyman, if she finds out.”

“I’d be delighted if she did.” Alexandria says, softly. But she means it still.

Emily stands up straight once more, bends at the waist in a loose mockery of a bow, and scrambles up one wall, gone in a single instant, melting even into the bright summer’s day.

“Take care of yourself.” Alexandria murmurs, long past too late for Emily to hear.

**Author's Note:**

> listen i replayed dishonored 2 the other day and im still like... emotional about dr hypatia lol


End file.
